Woodturning in New Zealand

By Charlie Hayes

I have recently returned from five weeks in New Zealand, and was amazed by the quality of the Crafts there. These crafts included pottery, glass blowing, glassware, Jade jewellery, Paua Shell inlay, sculpture, woodcarving and woodturning.

As my main interest was woodturning I managed to visit many of the craft centres and galleries in the towns and cities that we visited. The quality of the woodturning was outstanding and was obviously helped by wonderful timbers that are available in New Zealand. Some of these were Rimu, Kauri, Yew, Walnut and Ash. The last two bore little resemblance to our English timbers.

Below are some of the places exhibiting woodturning that I visited:-

1) Christchurch Woodcraft Gallery (in the Arts Centre) - the variety of items on display were large, platters, bowls, lidded pots, candlesticks, small furniture and carved items. The quality of the items was excellent and I spent a long time browsing.

2) Hokitika - Quad's House of Wood - the entrance to this gallery is past a wooden sculpture of a woodturner using a pole lathe. The items in this gallery, again, were of high quality and included many bowls and platters made from Rimu burrs, which had radiant red and brown figuring.

3) Queenstown - at their Saturday Market I met a professional woodturner, Peter Aalbers, who had a woodturning stall on the quayside. The quality of his work was high and in discussion I found out he markets his products on the website www.woodcraft.co.nz. He also teaches woodturning at a polytechnic but sadly he said that the younger New Zealanders were not taking up the craft in as many numbers as they used to. It was an interesting discussion and I gave him the website details for the BWA.

4) Picton - Karraka Wood Gallery - this gallery was outstanding for woodcarving and woodturning items. It was here that I succumbed and purchased a small bowl in Rimu as a memento of my visit to New Zealand. Other woodturners whom I did not meet but obtained their details from galleries were,

John Pinder,56 Channel View Road, Campbells Bay, Auckland
Tel: 09478 5201

Cary Dillon, Rimu Wood Bowl Maker, PO Box 11,Kumara Westland New Zealand
Tel: +643 7369741 Email: careyd@xtra.co.nz

I can recommend to any woodturner contemplating visiting New Zealand to visit some or all the galleries and centres above, you won't be disappointed. Also you get to see some outstanding scenery as well on your trip!!